New movies out in the UK…on Friday 10 July 2015

The Choir

Oddly, Boychoir is re-titled for it’s UK release. Troubled eleven-year-old Garret Wareling clashes at a prestigious school with the demanding choir master (Dustin Hoffman), in what looks like Songs Of Praise meets Whiplash. Dramaco-starring Kathy Bates, Josh Lucas and Debra Winger. The official webpage has a bit more detail, including a downloadable press kit of images.

Dear White People

Clever sounding satire about a mixed-race Winchester College radio DJ who starts a segment on her show in which she opines the covert, subtle racism of her white counterparts. The show triggers conversations and confrontations across campus about what black people encounter on a day to day basis…or do not, depending on their viewpoint. Showing in key cities only, so use Find Any Film to see where.

The Human Centipede 3: The Final Section

Bonkers sounding ‘final’ (hopefully!) installment in the horror series about people being surgically stitched together to make a human centipede. Quite why I would rather not know (mercifully I haven’t seen parts 1 or 2), but in this one a corrupt prison warden who oversees a notorious and violent jail, takes inspiration from those first two films to solve his problems. I would have thought an independent review into staffing, resources and funding and a brain-storming session with various stakeholders to look at future, proactive steps to improve the place would have sufficed, but there you go, that’s why I’m not a horror film maker.

Love and Mercy

The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson comes under a sunny, seaside microscope in this biopic that looks at his musical genius and mental health problems. John Cusack and Paul Dano play him as a middle-aged and younger man. Paul Giamatti and Elizabeth Banks co-star. Look at the official website for the trailer and everything else you would want to know about the film. Check out Find Any Film to locate where to see the film.

The Reunion

Swedish drama: Anna (Sandra Andreis) was bullied and ostracised at High School. 20 years later, there is a reunion of her High School classmates but she hasn’t been invited. She gatecrashes in an attempt to find out answers to questions she couldn’t ask as a teenager and her peers’ reaction to and treatment of her during this brief film (less than an hour and a half) are shocking. There is a lot of soul-searching and morality exploring in Swedish cinema of late, this one has a satisfying smack to it. Go to the official Soda Pictures webpage for more and the official trailer.

Song Of the Sea

Animated feature based on the Irish legend of the Selkies, it tells the story of the last seal-child, Saoirse, and her brother Ben, who go on an epic journey to save the world of magic and discover the secrets of their past. Pursued by the owl witch, Macha, and a host of ancient and mystical creatures, Saoirse and Ben race against time to awaken Saoirse’s powers and keep the spirit world from disappearing forever. The official Facebook page has the full low-down. Showing at key cities only – you know the drill with Find Any Film, so click on it.

Touch Of Evil

For decades, critics around the world heaped praise on Orson Welles’ dazzling debut, Citizen Kane, regularly citing it as the best film ever made. But there were those who plumped for this much later effort, when the pudgy cuteness of Welles’ youth had long-since degraded into corpulent obesity. Touch Of Evil is still a sexy, overheated, sweaty, pulp-noir thriller about the clash of wills between Mexican-American border narcotics agent Charlton Heston and local, corrupt detective Welles, each investigating a potentially scandalous killing. Canted camera angles, crisp and shocking black and photography, one of the most famous and prolonged tracking shots in film history and guest cameos from Marlene Dietrich as a tentacular black-wigged brothel madame, frequent Wells collaborator Joseph Cotton and Mercedes McCambridge as a lesbian biker chick round-out the pulsing feel to the piece. Showing at key cities only, check out the BFI’s website to find out where and you can also watch the trailer there too.